from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Core \Core\, n. [OF. cor, coer, cuer, F. c[oe]ur, fr. L. cor
heart. See {Heart}.]
1. The heart or inner part of a thing, as of a column, wall,
rope, of a boil, etc.; especially, the central part of
fruit, containing the kernels or seeds; as, the core of an
apple or quince.
[1913 Webster]
A fever at the core,
Fatal to him who bears, to all who ever bore.
--Byron.
[1913 Webster]
2. The center or inner part, as of an open space; as, the
core of a square. [Obs.] --Sir W. Raleigh.
[1913 Webster]
3. The most important part of a thing; the essence; as, the
core of a subject; -- also used attributively, as the core
curriculum at a college.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
4. (Founding) The portion of a mold which shapes the interior
of a cylinder, tube, or other hollow casting, or which
makes a hole in or through a casting; a part of the mold,
made separate from and inserted in it, for shaping some
part of the casting, the form of which is not determined
by that of the pattern.
[1913 Webster]
5. A disorder of sheep occasioned by worms in the liver.
[Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell.
[1913 Webster]
6. (Anat.) The bony process which forms the central axis of
the horns in many animals.
[1913 Webster]
7. (Elec.) A mass of iron or other ferrous metal, forming the
central part of an electromagnet, such as those upon which
the conductor of an armature, a transformer, or an
induction coil is wound.
Note: The presence of the iron intensifies the magnetic field
created by a a current passing through the windings.
[Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]
8. (mining) a sample of earth or rock extracted from
underground by a drilling device in such a manner that the
layers of rock are preserved in the same order as they
exist underground; as, to drill a core; to extract a core.
The sample is typically removed with a rotating drill bit
having a hollow center, and is thus shaped like a
cylinder.
[PJC]
9. (Computers) The main working memory of a digital computer
system, which typically retains the program code being
executed as well as the data structures that are
manipulated by the program. Contrasted to {ROM} and {data
storage device}.
Note: The term was applied originally to the main memory,
consisting of small ferromagnetic rings, that were used
to store data in older computers, where each ring
representing one bit of information by virtue of its
state of magnetization. They were superseded by
electronic data storage devices.
Syn: core memory, random access memory, RAM
[PJC]
10. (Geol.) the central part of the earth, believed to be a
sphere with a radius of about 2100 miles, and composed
primarily of molten iron with some nickel. It is
distinguished from the crust and mantle.
[PJC]
11. (Engineering) the central part of a nuclear reactor,
containing the fissionable fuel.
[PJC]
{Core box} (Founding), a box or mold, usually divisible, in
which cores are molded.
{Core print} (Founding), a projecting piece on a pattern
which forms, in the mold, an impression for holding in
place or steadying a core.
{Core dump} See {core dump} in the vocabulary.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
core dump \core" dump`\ (k[^o]r"d[u^]mp`), n.
1. (Computers) An complete and exact copy of the contents of
a computer {core}[9], usually produced as a file when some
serious error occurs in the execution of a computer
program, and used for debugging the program which produced
the error.
[PJC]
2. Hence: A full account of a person's knowledge on some
specific topic, usually produced in response to a question
of some kind. It is a mildly deprecatory term, suggesting
that the person producing the account was unable to
prepare a more concise and understandable summary of the
information; as, I just need the essentials, not a core
dump.
[PJC]
from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
core dump
n.
[common {Iron Age} jargon, preserved by Unix]
1. [techspeak] A copy of the contents of {core}, produced when a
process is aborted by certain kinds of internal error.
2. By extension, used for humans passing out, vomiting, or registering
extreme shock. "He dumped core. All over the floor. What a mess." "He
heard about X and dumped core."
3. Occasionally used for a human rambling on pointlessly at great
length; esp. in apology: "Sorry, I dumped core on you".
4. A recapitulation of knowledge (compare {bits}, sense 1). Hence,
spewing all one knows about a topic (syn. {brain dump}), esp. in a
lecture or answer to an exam question. "Short, concise answers are
better than core dumps" (from the instructions to an exam at
Columbia). See {core}.